4 Big Video Game Rumors That Would Rock the Industry in 2019

Leaked Harry Potter RPG Announcement

2018 was a massive year for the video games and the best releases from last year have set a new bar for the industry. Games like God of War, Red Redemption 2, and Celeste showed people that video games still have a ton of room to grow and the mark these titles will leave on the industry will be felt for many years.

With 2019 upon us, it is now time to look forward at what could be in store for gamers in the coming year.While there are plenty of rumors about what could be announced or released in 2019, we have picked out five rumors that could have the most significant impact on the industry.

Back in October, a video of an unannounced Harry Potter RPG leaked online.

The footage was originally posted to Reddit by u/VapeThisBro and gave a brief look at the game’s character creation system, combat, and setting. Based on how complete the game looked a 2019 announcement seems likely.

Supposedly, the video came from a market research study that the Reddit user was involved in, but due to copyright claims was quickly removed. According to a press release that was included in with the post, the game will include eight playable classes, will be set in the 19th century, and will place players in control of a fifth-year Hogwarts student.

The legitimacy of the leak was improved when the BBC News reporter Lizo Mzimba responded to a story about the footage with more information.

Mzimba’s tweeted that there are a couple of potential titles for the RPG and more Harry Potter games are possibly in development.

A late 2019 release date could also happen, but without more details about the scope of the RPG, this is harder to feel confident about.

Even if you’re not a big Harry Potter fan, the power of the franchise can’t be denied. To put into context how big the Harry Potter franchise is, Time said the brand was worth $25 billion in 2016. To compare, Microsoft spent $2.5 billion to acquire Mojang and own the rights to the second highest selling game of all time.

If a pop culture juggernaut as massive as Harry Potter decided to make a real investment in AAA development, the scale and popularity of the games could easily compete with titles like Red Dead Redemption 2 and Cyberpunk 2077.

Cyberpunk 2077 Release Date

Since CD Projekt RED announced Cyberpunk 2077 in 2012, the RPG has been one of the most anticipated games in the industry and fans have been eagerly awaiting the reveal of the game’s release date.

Luckily, it sounds like the game might be here sooner than you think. In June, a rumor came out of an investor call that internally CD Projekt RED is targeting a release before June 2019.

Considering that the game has been in development for six years and in August one of Cyberpunk 2077’s producers said the “entire game is playable from start to finish,” a 2019 release date is not out of the realm of possibility.

It is worth noting though that CD Projekt RED has always made it very clear that Cyberpunk 2077 will only be released when the game is ready.

The developer even jokingly referenced this with a “Happy Holidays Chombattas!” tweet. A GIF included in the tweet shows an incomplete ornament with a loading bar and text reading, “Coming when it’s ready.”

While this goal to only release Cyberpunk 2077 when the developer is confident about the game could push it out of 2019, it does also mean that CD Projekt RED would probably not announce a release date until they are sure they could hit it.

Regardless of when Cyberpunk 2077 comes out, there will almost certainly be more information released on the game this year. So stay tuned.

Xbox Scarlett Announcement

Rumors of new Xbox hardware first began to appear in June when a Thurrott report was released covering the codename Scarlett family of consoles. Scarlett is being referred to as a family of consoles because it will reportedly include two different devices.

The first of these two consoles is expected to be a traditional system and a next-gen upgrade to the Xbox One. This console would be intended for any gamers who want the standard Xbox experience.

Microsoft’s second Scarlett system though, is being built to be a streaming only device. This streaming only Xbox will be sold at a lower price and will be a cheaper entry point for people looking for a next-gen console.

The reduced price of the console will be due to the internal computing power of the Xbox being comparatively low and much of the processing will be handled by Microsoft’s cloud.

In terms of the timing of an official announcement, E3 could prove to be the perfect chance for an unveiling.

With Sony pulling out of the event, Microsoft could easily dominate the headlines with a Scarlett reveal. This reveal would also line up perfectly with rumors that the new systems are expected to be released in 2020.

PlayStation 5 Announcement

When Sony announced they would not be at E3 some people assumed it was because they do not have enough new information to fill a press conference, but another possibility is that the company is planning to reveal the PlayStation 5 away from the noise of E3.

After the messaging around the Xbox One was mishandled other companies likely took note of what happened with the hope of avoiding a similar situation.

One way Sony could try and do this would be to announce the PS5 at a much more fan-focused event like PlayStation Experience. Attendees of PlayStation Experience are typically Sony’s most dedicated fanbase and could provide the company with the best chance of having a largely positive reaction to a console reveal.

It’s also possible that Sony could be staying away from E3 so they can avoid being immediately compared to Xbox Scarlett without knowing exactly what it is yet.

Very few details are known about Sony’s next console but there are rumors that the PS5 will have an increased focus on VR support.

While there have been some rumors that the PS5 could launch in 2019 in an attempt to beat the Xbox to market, a 2020 release seems much more plausible.